Page 63 of Rescuing Josiah
Just because Josiah had more training and experience than all the guards put together, it didn't mean they couldn’t still kill him.
After all, they were armed and Josiah wasn't.
Killing one on one with his bare hands was easy for him. Maybe even two on one, or possibly three on one. But what if there were four of them? Five? Ten?
Before she even realized it, Chelsea was taking steps toward the door, unable to let him go alone. She might not be as good as he was, but she could do something, she wasn't completely helpless.
“No,” she rebuked herself aloud. “You can't. You promised. Well, you agreed at least. If Josiah thinks you followed him, he won't be able to concentrate, and you don’t want to be the reason he dies.”
Although …
There had been something in his eyes she hadn't liked when she’d told him his job was to stay safe, too. Something that said he didn't completely agree with her.
“Don’t do anything stupid, please,” she whispered into the empty room as though her plea had the power to travel through the mansion to wherever Josiah was and convince him that his life mattered.
Did he know that?
She feared he didn't. Feared that for him, this was the revenge mission he never got to go on, and that surviving it wasn't as high on his priority list as it was on hers. He hadn'tbeen able to get justice for his SEAL team, but he could get it for Cyber Team.
“You have to trust him,” she reminded herself as she deliberately turned her back on the door. She was supposed to wait fifteen minutes, then go to the linen closet at the end of the hall. Hiding felt cowardly, and if she’d had access to a weapon, she would have insisted on going with Josiah regardless of his arguments.
Wandering to the window, she looked out into the dark night. Prey was out there somewhere, she knew that, but she just wanted them here. Wanted Desiree Tilly in handcuffs, Dr. Gant and the rest of the staff here by choice as well. Wanted all these innocent victims like the poor woman tied and gagged upstairs, dreading a surgery that wasn't coming to be safe, back home with their families and recovering from their ordeal.
She stared out the window, desperate for a glimpse of the men she knew were coming. Of course, she couldn’t see them, they were too good for that. They wouldn't be seen until they wanted to be, but it didn't stop her from looking.
“Huh,” she said, a small smile quirking her lips up as she did indeed notice a small movement in the gardens. “Guess they aren't as good as they think they are, or I'm just better than I think?—”
The rambled words she was speaking aloud to herself so she didn't lose her mind broke off when she realized what she’d just seen.
It wasn't a member of Prey.
Too small.
Childlike.
“Bridget.” She gasped.
What was Desiree’s little girl doing out there? And all alone, too, because there were no other moving shadows nearby.
Did Desiree know about Prey? Had something tipped her off, and she was readying her guards to attack?
Without even considering what she was doing, Chelsea spun around and hurried toward the door.
Easing it open, she glanced down the hall and spotted no one.
As far as she was concerned, her promise was void. Bridget was out there, and she wasn't going to let the little girl get caught in the crossfire. She’d get the child, and they’d hide somewhere together until it was safe.
Tiptoeing down the hall toward the stairs, Chelsea made it to the first turn when she saw the dancing of flashlights.
Ducking back out of sight, she weighed up her options. It hadn't been enough time yet for Prey to get inside. Maybe it was one of the couples wandering around in the early hours of the morning? Or maybe it was the guards.
A muffled pop had her freezing.
She knew that sound.
It was a gun with a silencer being fired.
Darting her head back around the corner, she saw a shadowed figure closing a door, then moving down to the next one and opening it.
